Spirited Away: Aria and Lyra's Beginning
by aria.of.the.shadow.flame
Summary: Aria and Lyra's first adventure where they find out a piece of the truth. Come along and find yourself with the twins and their sister, Chihiro. ( my Oc's...parings : Chihiro/Haku (Kohaku) ) I own nothing except My Oc's and this plot line. {Book 1 of Series}
1. Chapter 1: Announcement and Hidden Truth

Chapter 1

A depressing feeling surrounded the car. Chihiro was sulking in the middle seat between her two sisters. She was so angry earlier when her parents announced

they were moving that when the twins tried to comfort her she screamed in their faces. "How would you know how I feel?" When they tried to comfort her

again, she revealed a truth the twins did not know. "Why do you even care about me?! You're not even my sisters! You're adopted!" That was three days

before the big move. The twins had run out of the house crying as they went. The twins could not be found anywhere for a whole day. Just at sunset, their

parents searched until they found them sitting in the parking lot of some new apartment buildings. They sat right at the spot of what used to be the shore line

of the Kohaku River. A river that a few years back marked their lives forever. When the twins were nine and Chihiro was five, they were walking home from

school. For some reason or another, Chihiro kicked at the air as if kicking a ball causing her shoe to fall into the river. Just behind her sisters, she didn't want

to be seen as a dummy and tried to get her shoe herself. She had almost had it when it floated out of her reach causing her to fall in. She let out a yelp

causing her sisters to turn around and run to the river bank. By now Chihiro was in the idle of the river where it was too deep to swim to by the twins. But

then, out of nowhere, the river itself seemed to carry their baby sister closer to shore. When the twins jumped in to save her, they saw something they did

not expect. They saw a sliver dragon whose scales shined under the water. For years after the rescue, the twins kept coming back hoping to see the dragon

once more even after the river had been filled in. To them, spirits had always appeared but for some reason they never saw the silver dragon who they

assumed was the river spirit of the old Kohaku River again. Always when their parents needed to find them, they would see them there waiting for something

but they did not know what nor did they pretend to even know. At this very spot that meant so much to them, they had confronted their so called parents

about what their sister had said. Standing from their spot and holding tight to each other's hands, they yelled at the top of their lungs. "Is it true we were

adopted?! Well is it?!" At this both their parents looked at each other and with a sigh turned back to their girls. "Yes. It is true and we are so sorry we never

told you." Both girls were wide eyed and in tears. They had thought that maybe this was another childish tantrum from their little sister but now that they

knew it to be true it took all their strength just to keep standing up. Both girls for the next few days before the move didn't say a word and always held each

other's hands where ever they went. They needed each other's support now more than ever because they were all they had. Sure they might have had an

adopted family but it was clear to them that they were only in the way now that they looked back. Now they understood why their father would not be home

for their birthday and their mother and sister would forget. Now they understood why their parents always pay more attention to Chihiro. Now they understood

that even when their parents only had them, they were never given the time of day. It made so much sense that this would turn out to be the truth. The

signs were there but they just refused to see it and always made excuses for each of them. They wondered why their "parents" had told Chihiro the truth but

not them. Did they not trust them enough? Did they not think they could handle it? All these thoughts and questions ran through their minds as they came to

the final day before the big move to their brand new home.


	2. Chapter 2: The Big Move and Discovery

Chapter 2

The twins awoke on the big day bright and early. Unlike their "little sister", they didn't own much. They only owned a futon, its pillow, some clothes, a journal

and a pen, and two pairs of shoes each all of which they bought themselves with the money they earned at their jobs. Since they owned so very little, they

were easily the first ones packed and hopped it the middle of the family car with their back packs. The family car had, once upon a time, been a simple four

door beige old thing that had been painted a dark teal color but it had broken down beyond repair last year and their parents had to buy an Expedition. For the

better part of the first quarter of the ride to their new home, the three girls had sat in the middle seat together but Chihiro's whining quickly put an end to

that. Luckily for them, their "father" stopped at a mall and the twins ran out of the car. They bought themselves some new clothes, shoes, some accessories,

and a laptop and iPod each. Their father had wondered where they had gone off to when they finished eating and was shocked to see they had bought all

that themselves. Just before leaving, they ordered some food to go and hopped in the back seat leaving their sister bored in the middle. The twins had not

really cared much that they were moving. It's not like they left any friends behind. But Chihiro was another matter entirely. She had just started complaining

that her first bouquet was a goodbye present when they passed a building that their father pointed out. "Aria, Lyra, Chihiro look there is your new school.

Looks great doesn't it.?" The twins didn't mind in the least and actually hoped maybe they would make some friends here. Chihiro on the other hand went right

back to complaining causing the twins to groan. They wondered what she had to complain about anyway. She had never had to work a day in her life unlike

the twins who due to their parents having financial problems, took it upon themselves to buy what they needed and helping out with bills by working two jobs.

They were cleaning ladies at an apartment complex and at the time a local hotel. When they left they were given glowing recommendations for their next job

interview. As Chihiro kept complaining it only put the twins to sleep. The twins had been asleep for the better part of five minutes when they were woken up

by their "little sister" panicking. They each threw a scarf they each randomly had grabbed from the back at her after they found out she was only panicking

because her precious little bouquet was dyeing due to her smothering them even after their "mother" told her not to. While Lyra just sat there annoyed, Aria

had just about had it. "Do you always have to complain about everything?" The only response that Aria received was Chihiro sticking her tongue out at both

the twins just like the child she was. During this little spat they were having it appeared as if their father had missed the turn off and had ended up on an

abandoned road. "What. Wait did I take the wrong turn? This can't be right." The twins could just sense the little sweat drop on their head. They couldn't

believe how dense he was sometimes. "Look girls there's our house. It's that blue one on the end." "I must have missed the turn off. This road should get us

there." "Honey, don't take a short cut you always get us lost." The twins burst out laughing knowing it was true and then turned to their father. "Yep. Every

time you take a short cut we end up lost for hours." But their father was no longer listening. He was mumbling something about us being fine and how he had

four wheel drive, all the while speeding faster and faster. "Honey. Honey. Ahhh. Slow down, you're gonna kill us." All of a sudden, father slammed on the breaks

stopping just short of crashing into what looked like a statue of a monkey. He turned off the car and stepped out wanting to check out the building. Chihiro

followed after and looking at the building asked, "What is it?"


	3. Chapter 3: Crossing the Spirit Gate

Chapter 3

Their father approached the old building and ran his hand along the edge. "This building's not old. It's fake. These stones are just made of plaster." At this the

twins got out of the car and saw the tunnel. As usual the girls were polar opposites. The twins wanted to explore the tunnel but Chihiro was scared and

wanted to leave. "Come on let's just take a quick look. After all the movers have the keys they can start without us." As usual, the twins won and Chihiro

came running scared and clinged on to their mom as they went into the tunnel. The twins took the lead into the tunnel and giggled as they heard Chihiro

acting like the child she was. Just to torture her more, they moaned and groaned as they went deeper into the tunnel ahead of the family. They heard Chihiro

yelp and burst out laughing now completely out of the tunnel to what looked like a peaceful spot to read a good book or something. The twins heard a train

and from the looks of it Chihiro and their mother heard it too. When they exited the building completely, the twins looked up and saw what looked like an old

clock tower. "I knew it." Everyone turned towards Father and he explained further. "It's an abandoned theme park. See? They built them everywhere in the

early 90's. Then the economy went bad and they all went bankrupt. This must be one of them." With this everyone but Chihiro kept going. "Where are you

going?! You said just a quick look! Now let's go back! Hey!" Chihiro freaked out when the wind hit the building making it appear as if it was making a sound.

"Mom, did you hear that building? It was moaning." "It was just the wind scaredy-cat." The family kept going much to the disdain of Chihiro and they came

upon a bare river bed full of rocks. Their father assumed that they were planning to put in a river before the park closed. He was helping Mother cross when all

of a sudden, he could smell something. "Hey you smell that? Something smells delicious. Maybe this theme park's still in business. Let's go." "Yeah and I'm

starving." Their mother had hardly spoken during their move due to the hostility of the twins after Chihiro let it slip that they were adopted. Father ran off

following his nose and the whole family ran and chased after him. As they chased him, Mother noticed every establishment was a restaurant. Finally after what

seemed like forever, the family heard Father shout out to them. "Hey. I found it." Everyone gathered at the restaurant where the smell was coming from "Ah

there it is. Hey honey you gotta see this in here." The twins followed their parents and saw an incredible array of food. Though they were hungry, they dare

not touch any of the food. They could sense the spirits that were surrounding them and just knew this was the Food of the Spirits. A horrible punishment

awaited any human who ate it. They heard their parents and their sister arguing over them eating the food now and paying for it later but, if the twins

mentioned what they knew they knew they would get it. Their mother had long ago told them to not mention anything to do with spirits and such. So they

just sat back and waited out the argument. After Chihiro finally gave up, after what seemed like forever, of trying to convince their parents of not touching

the food. The three girls just let out a sigh of exasperation and head off to go exploring. The girls slowly walked through the line of restaurants that looked like

a little town before coming to a flight of stairs. As they slowly climbed it taking in the sights, they turned and what they saw shocked them. There before

them, was an old bath house. That was not really shocking. What was shocking was that this bath house's boiler was working. At this very second just as the

sun was stating to set, the bath houses' boiler came on. Just as Chihiro stepped on the bridge to look on the train, the girls had no way of knowing that these

next few moments would change their lives forever.


	4. Chapter 4: Trapped and Powers Awakening

Chapter 4

After a few minutes, Chihiro snapped out of the spell entrancing her to look at the bath house. She had heard the train and followed it from one side of the

bridge to the other running and climbing up the rails. As she watched the train ride off into the sunset, the twins sat high on the railing watching their baby

sister. It was quiet for a minute when all of a sudden they heard a gasp. At first, Chihiro thought it was the twins playing another prank on her. But something

told her to turn around. When she did, the twins had the same idea and they all saw a boy. This boy turned out to be about Chihiro's age and it looked like he

could only see her. It was like the twins were invisible. So they sat back and enjoyed the show. "You shouldn't be here. Get out of here, now!" Chihiro, who

was oblivious he was addressing her, could only reply stupidly. "What...?" "It's almost night. Leave before it gets dark." The twins wanted to laugh so bad at

their sister's stupid comment but stayed quiet. The boy didn't even know they were there and they didn't want to ruin their "little moment". "They're lighting

the lamps. Get out of here! You gotta get across the river. Go, I'll distract them. " With that he pushed Chihiro down the steps and she kept going back to

their parents. The twins saw red at this strange boy pushing their baby sister. Just as they were about to confront the boy, he surprised them. He blew what

looked like silver dragon scales in the direction of the bath house. Then they heard what they had expected. "Mommy! Where are you?" They groaned and

grudgingly followed causing the boy to finally notice the twins. He stood wide eyed as they just walked to where their parents were. He knew of the curse

placed on them and expected a scream. Yet they just shrugged and walked after Chihiro. He couldn't even place why he had remembered the youngest girl's

name let alone where they had met but he had to see that she was safe. Chihiro was scared as hell. She was jumping at everything in sight. She had finally

made her way back to the bare river bed but screamed at what she found. The twins started running the second they heard their sister cry out, "Water!" Ever

since that time when they were kids, Chihiro had been terrified by bodies of water even more so than anything else. She yelled at the twins for not panicking

about their parents, who were missing. They tried to explain to her that their parents were right where they had left them and, that they had triggered a

curse by eating the Food of the Spirits but she wouldn't hear of it. She was terrified and in denial. The sea-like river covered the area between the fake old

clock tower and the steps on which the three sisters stood. As Chihiro panicked, the twins noticed a boat crossing the river. Then they heard Chihiro's

rambling. "I'm dreaming! I'm dreaming! Come on Wake up! It's just a dream! Go away. Go away. Disappear. Ah! I'm see-through! Lyra, Aria help! It's just a bad

dream!" Lyra and Aria tried to comfort their sister who panicked and ran away as the spirits all filed off their boat. Before the two could go after their baby

sister, a bright light hit them. At this moment, a part of their true selves unlocked itself. It changed their attire as well as their appearance. Their power had

been unleashed. Aria wore a dress of black and blue as well as a black dragon bracelet on her right wrist and a silver dragon bracelet on her left wrist. She

wore them over mesh like arm-sleeves with black rose designs on them with a black choker containing a black diamond. The light adorned her feet with black

ballet style shoes with the ties and it turned her normally ginger hair to black with blue highlights. Aria turned and saw her sister had undergone a similar

transformation. Lyra wore a dress of black and grey with white accents and white gloves. She wore a belt of gold and rubies around her waist and her hair

dulled from its ginger to a light brown. Her hair was held in a half pony tail with a bun atop by a grey bow. And she wore a black choker in the form of a

dragon with a diamond for an eye. The powers that were their birth right had at last awakened.


	5. Chapter 5: The Boy Named Haku

Chapter 5

Confused beyond belief, the twins ran after their sister following the general direction in which she had run. When they found their sister, they blushed slightly.

They found her in the arms of that boy from before. Not wanting to interrupt anything, they stayed quiet and watched the scene. "You have to eat some food

from this world or else you'll disappear." "No!" When the twins were sure that Chihiro would hit the boy, they ran to her but stopped short when they saw her

hands pass right through the boy. They gasped as the boy restored their baby sister by simply feeding her a berry. They sighed in relief and were overcome

with joy. "Thank you for helping our sister." At this, the boy jumped up startled and noticed two beautiful girls behind him. He thought for sure he had imagined

seeing other humans besides Chihiro and her cursed parents here. Now that he was paying close attention, or rather any attention at all, he sensed a great

power coming from the two. This was intriguing but he brushed that fact aside. How did he not notice these two girls who claimed to be Chihiro's sisters

before? The answer was simple. He was so worried about Chihiro that he was blind to all else that moved. Even when it came to those she called family, he

was sure that I had been merely her and her parents. At first, Chihiro first thought was to yell at them for introducing themselves as her sisters. Then again on

second thought she was too scared to even care. She watched as the boy moved to introduce himself but once he noticed a movement in the sky, he threw

himself and Chihiro to the wall. "Don't move." Just as the bird-like spy started to fly overhead, he cursed his stupidity. Once again, he forgot about everyone

else but Chihiro and left her sisters defenseless or so he thought. As if sensing danger, the twins' new found powers created spheres of ice and a dark looking

flame to protect them from any threat. The shield extended to protect their sister and the boy and remained active until it sensed the danger had passed.

Once again the twins noticed the boy possessed a rather strong protectiveness over their baby sister as he slowly started to stand. "That bird is looking for

you. You've gotta get out of here." All Chihiro could do was nod but when she tried to stand up, she panicked. Her legs had locked themselves due to Chihiro's

fear. "Ah. My legs. I can't stand up. Help. What do I do?" The twins watched as the boy muttered to their sister reassuringly and then whispered a spell they

could hear crystal clear. "In the name of the wind and water within thee, unbind her. Get up." Without so much as a look back, he raced away dragging their

sister with him. They wanted to make him pay for that but something within them told them the boy could be trusted. As they sat against the very wall that

only moments ago had braced their sister, they made a shocking discovery. As Lyra placed her hand just above the tiny pebbles against the wall, they turned

to gold. When she did the same to the other it turned into a precious gem. They grabbed as many as they could and placed them in the purses that were

created with their new attire. Seeing no way to get to wherever their sister was, they decided to simply follow the spirits. The twins were surprised when they

found they could understand the spirits no matter the tongue they spoke in. Seeing this as an opportunity, they walked as slowly as possible to where the

rest of the spirits were going and talked to a few along the way. Each and every one of them had been kind so far but they were bound to run into some rude

ones but such was life. Finally they could delay it no longer. Climbing the same small flight of stairs they had before, they came before the bath house once

again. Only this time it looked so much more beautiful lit up in the night. Just before they were to step on the bridge, they saw the boy with their baby sister

and finally after all this time had learned the boy's name: Haku.


	6. Chapter 6: Two Different Journeys

Chapter 6

They could hear the boy, whose name they just found out is Haku, whispering to their sister as clear as if he were shouting the words spoken for all to hear.

"You have to hold your breath while we cross the bridge. Even the tiniest breath will break the spell and then everyone will see you." The twins were scared of

what would happen. If Haku found it necessary to hide Chihiro, who was just as human as they, what would happen to them even if they had these strange

new powers? The twins tried to remain calm as they approached the first group of hosts who appeared to be frog men or something. "Ah. Newcomers.

Welcome my ladies. Welcome to our baths." With this they bowed slightly and ushered them further in. At the other side of the bridge was a second group of

hosts or rather hostesses. Just before reaching the end of the bridge themselves, they noticed that Chihiro had broken the invisibility spell all because some

little frog stopped them from crossing the bridge fully before she turned blue. In a last effort to escape, her paralyzed the frog and used powers of his own to

fly or rather rush Chihiro to a little side door just behind the giggling hostesses. They too noticed their arrival among the usual clientele and greeted them

kindly. "Welcome to our baths. Good to see you my ladies." They were worried about their sister but through some weird way, they had heard the whole

conversation through some type of mind link. Apparently, humans had a very distinct smell to a spirit's nose since the human world is so polluted not matter

how clean the environment you live in. Chihiro and their parents reeked of it but for some unknown reason the twins didn't have it. They had no clue that due

to their newly unlocked powers, it would protect them in anyway including making the twins blend into their surroundings as to avoid detection. They were

ushered into the main entrance of the bath house and were immediately in awe. They thought the outside was beautiful under the cover of night, the inside

was even more breath taking. They tried to hide their surprise as they were greeted by yet another host. "Ah. Two beautiful valued customers. Please come

this way. I shall give you the grand tour." The two followed after their guide as he first showed them to their room. They had explained that since they were

twins, they would prefer a room for the both of them. Just as the guide was to leave, the twins both grabbed a handful of gold out of their purses and gave it

to their guide as thanks. They knew it was his job, but they couldn't help but be generous. They knew how hard it was to earn a decent living having to have

dealt with the same back home. The look on their guide's face made their hearts soar as he walked away after saying what seemed like him saying thank you a

billion times. They had started to discover their new powers bit by bit. They found that not only could they turn rocks and stones into gold and precious gems,

but they could make them appear out of thin air. They were sure that little trick would come in handy. Either Haku knew that the mind link connection he had

established with their sister had been accessible by the twins or it just happened that way they didn't know. They sat in their room and watched everything

through their sister's eyes starting just after Haku had left Chihiro to go see the owner of this place about some mission. After things quieted down, and

following Haku's instructions, Chihiro went out the back gate and made her way to climb down the tall, old, rail less, stairs leading to the boiler room. As the

twins had expected, she was pretty scared of doing this but wanting badly to help her parents she crawled down each step making sure to feel that each

individual step was safe. After a while she felt safe but that was quickly broken when just as she had started to trust these steps one broke causing her to

fall and run down the rest of the more dangerous steps on an adrenaline rush screaming at the top of her lungs. The twins jumped when she first screamed

and were kind of relieved when she stopped herself with a wall but that relief was short lived. The twins were amazed that no one had heard her screaming

like an idiot. They were finally about to calm down when a frog man opened up what looked to be the kitchen window to smoke. Amazingly, their sister

escaped unseen as she made her way down the new safer steps until she came to the boiler room. Scared, Chihiro took a deep breath and let it out taking

hold of the door and stepping inside. That was as far as the twins were able to see for the moment so they readied themselves for a bath and some dinner.


	7. Chapter 7: Through the Mind Link

Chapter 7

After dinner and a bath, the twins returned to their room and opened the mind link once more. They weren't sure how they did it but just thinking about their

baby sister must have done the trick. The scene picked up where it had left off right after Chihiro had opened the door that lead to the boiler room. She was

scared and didn't know what to expect after the other spirit creatures she had seen. She peeked into the room and saw a man sitting crossed legged on a plat

form of sorts crashing some herbs and strange little black things carrying coal. Chihiro gasped out loud when she found out that the man was actually a spider

yokai or demon as his other arms gathered herbs along the side of the plat form and pulling on what the twins had learned that it was called a bath token. The

workers would send it up to the boiler man and he would in turn send them the water needed for any particular bath using some sort of device. Chihiro tried to

back out and away from the place but as she leaned against a wall that hid her from sight, a blast of steam hit her giving her at least some strength by

snapping her out of it. She bravely and nervously all at once walked up to the boiler man and just like Haku had asked, began asking for work. "Excuse me.

Hello. Are you Kamaji? Um. Haku told me to come here and ask you for work could you give me a job please?" The boiler man paid her no head as he was

bombarded with four bath tokens at once making him very angry. "Ah! Four bath token at once. Come one get to work you little runts." He grabbed a hammer

like thing and hit the wheel of the platform that the twins assumed to operate the device that brings water to the baths. "Yes. I'm Kamaji. Slave to the boiler

that heats the baths... Move it you stupid soot balls!" the entire rest of the scene was rather comical. Especially when Chihiro had to place a piece of coal in

the furnace when she saved a soot ball from getting squished making all the other soot balls want her to do their jobs for them too. Then the scene showed a

new person entering their sister's little plan with Haku. A highly spirited girl to say the least, Lin was charged by Kamaji to take Chihiro to see Yubaba, the

owner of the bath house, about a job since he didn't need any help. In exchange for a roasted newt to stop what he called a tantrum, a flustered Chihiro tried

her best to be respectful to Lin even though since she was scared it took her a while to respond thus making Lin call her a Dope. The twins giggled and

wondered why they hadn't come up with that little insult themselves when the mind link stopped. They received a knock on their door and Aria went to open

it. She was shocked to see Haku there. She let him in and quickly shut the door where the three sat on the bed. He explained that once Chihiro had secured a

job, his entire demeanor would change due to Yubaba who controlled him. He would become cold and kind of heartless in front of Chihiro but he didn't want her

sisters to think he had either tricked their baby sister from the start or abandoned her. He also explained that once she signed the contract she would lose her

name. With that, Yubaba would have complete control over her. Since he knew about the twins recently unlocked powers he told the girls that it was those

very powers that were saving them now as well as the fact as only three humans were reported to have been in the spirit world. The twins were terrified that

once Chihiro signed away her name she would forget everything. They tried to tell him to stop her, to switch her with one of them but Haku merely shook his

head. "I'm sorry but only Chihiro can save your parents. This experience will turn her into a better person I the long run as well. She has the most growing up

to do and so her abilities are the only ones fit for this." "What abilities?" The twins had a habit of talking in perfect sync making Haku chuckle now that he was

paying attention. "I'm not quite sure but all I do know is though you two may help her from the background so as to not endanger yourselves as well, only

Chihiro can ultimately save your parents and take you all back to the human realm." The twins sat there with both of their mouths hanging open. "We're

doomed."


	8. Chapter 8: Visiting Parents and the Past

Chapter 8

Haku said he could stay until he felt the pull of Yubaba's summons after Chihiro convinced her to give her a job. They watched as after being helped out by

the Radish Spirit and Lin, she had made it to the top floor, Yubaba's pent house. It took some doing and some unintentional help from Yubaba's baby son, but

finally the twins cried as they saw their baby sister signed away her name on a contract giving up her freedom all for their stupid parents and Haku and his

calming aura simply vanished. Through the mind link the four now shared, they saw what Haku meant about changing towards Chihiro but through the link

knew how much it hurt him inside as he set her up with the other bath house workers making her Lin's assistant. They didn't blame him about how he treated

her. After all he had come to explain everything taking their feelings into consideration. As he watched Yubaba fly off in her ugly bird form, he came to the

twin's room to spend some time while he waited for the other girls to fall asleep. Today as everyone was asleep, he was taking the three sisters to see their

parents. He knew this was probably going to be too much pressure on Chihiro but it had to be done. If she didn't remember what they looked like, or her name

for that matter later down the road, the whole family would be trapped in the Spirit World. Possibly even trapped forever… After he was sure everyone would

be asleep he told the twins to meet him at the bridge and that he was going to tell their sister the same. After he completed the first task of informing Chihiro,

he made his way to the empty kitchen and made some rice balls for her. Casting a spell under his breath, he wrapped them up and met all three girls at the

bridge. Though Chihiro had trouble keeping up with Haku, the twins did not. They easily followed him to the pig pen as Chihiro ran the rest of the clear way to

catch up. Haku pointed to two sleeping pigs to let the girls know who they were and Chihiro ran up to the fence. "Mom! Dad! I promise I'll get you out! Now

just don't get any fatter or they'll eat you!" With her heart breaking she ran away. The twins stayed a bit longer and whispered their own heart felt words no

matter how short. "Well that pretty much sums it up, huh mom?…dad?" Their powers told them that the pigs before them don't even remember they were

human much less that they had children. Even less did they remember that those children were their three daughters. They turned to Haku with tears in their

eyes. "We had enough Haku. We're heading back to give you time alone. We will be waiting at the bridge." With a simple nod the three turned to their

destinations. Haku went after Chihiro to cheer her up and give her the rice balls he had spelled to give her back her strength and the twins slowly walked back

to the bridge giving the two some much needed alone time. Chihiro knew what Haku had told her. She knew that though the twins could help it would

ultimately be by her hand that the family would be safe back home in the human realm. It scared her really. This was way too much pressure and the only way

to let the pressure off was to cry. And so, as she ate the rice balls Haku had made for her she cried, letting him comfort her by wrapping an arm around her

shoulders. They were there for a good while but the twins had just arrived at the bridge having taken the slow walk back. After a good half an hour the two

"lovebirds" came to the bridge and Haku explained he had to leave on another mission. The three were about to leave when something made them all turn

around and see Haku as a sliver dragon. The twins swallowed a gasp. It was him the dragon from the river they saved Chihiro from as kids. They wanted to

jump up and down in happiness but they said nothing. They knew that their baby sister would have to remember this and save Haku and their parents on her

own but that didn't mean that they couldn't drop hints and other help from time to time. Unfortunately, due to protecting her sisters this was where they had

to part. The twins went through the main entrance and Chihiro went down the steps behind the back gate to the boiler room falling asleep in the corner

between the soot ball homes and Kamaji's bed. Kamaji, whose left arm went to grab his water kettle, awoke to the sight of the little girl he had taken to think

of as his granddaughter asleep curled in a ball as if cold and gave her a blanket that seemed to help smiling as he fell asleep again. The twins had made their

way quietly back to their room and once closing and locking the door collapsed on their beds asleep before their heads ever hit the pillows.


	9. Chapter 9: First Major Job

Chapter 9

Chihiro, or Sen, as she was now known arrived a good half hour into all the girls waking up. Because of this, the rest of the girls stuck her and Lin with putting

all the futons away. "Where were you Sen? I was really worried." Sen felt terrible for lying to her new friend but had no choice and could only reply, "I'm sorry."

After putting all the futons away and getting ready, the girls all made their way to what was being called Check-In Hour. It was literally a stampede of girls

and frog men trying to clock in. Something Sen found out the hard way can be dangerous if you are not fast enough. You could literally get trampled on if you

stay too long. Even ten seconds is too long a time. After the checking-in, came the hard part. Sen had never worked a day in her life and she knew it. Her

sisters would be more suited for this but she was nothing if not determined. And a major klutz. Even before Lin and her had even got started, the top, meaning

Yubaba, ordered the two of them to do frog work: Clean out the big tub. IT was disgusting to say the least. There was years' worth of sludge caked on that

would normally would take days to scrub off even with an army of bath house workers but the two were being told right off the bat that they had customers

on the way. It was harassment. And not just from the top either. Even the foreman refused to help when Lin told Sen to get and herbal soap token from him.

The only way she was able to get one was because of a "customer" she had let in due to the rain that apparently loved to disappear. She ran as fast as she

could and didn't give the foreman a chance to take back the token. When she came back to Lin, she explained how the water mechanism works and once

again proved her to be a klutz when she slipped down the side of the tub hitting her head hard. Just a few seconds after Lin had left to go get breakfast and

the "customer" brought her at least one of each bath token and disappeared when she said thank you but that she didn't need any more making them all fall

on the floor. She picked them up and put them in the bucket she had brought with her just before shutting off the water that over flowed a little bit. The

twins came and acted as potential customers taking a chance to talk to their baby sister when all of a sudden one of the bath house workers appeared. "My

ladies. I am terribly sorry but Yubaba, who rules this bath house, wishes to see Sen, now. I would suggest you go back to your rooms." They looked at each

other and then back to the worker. "If it's all the same to you, we would prefer to come with Sen. We have taken a liking to her and would love to help her as

much as she has helped us on her personal time." Shocked and not knowing what to say, he simply nodded and led the way to the front. Apparently, word on

the grape vine was that a stink spirit had appeared and wanted a bath. Yubaba stated that they had no choice but to greet him and give him a bath. She had

called for Sen because she wanted to use her to take care of this rather stinky guest. She had no idea what to say when two beautiful and young ladies

volunteered to help her. She should have said no but these were her customers, and by the looks of the bill and the tips she had been given just an hour ago,

she couldn't say no them who at the moment were her best customers. So reluctantly she agreed to let them help. She made Sen take the "nice customer's

money" and she freaked but for some reason the ladies seemed unaffected by the smell or were just that good at hiding it. The twin ladies took the lead

actually holding the stink spirit's hands as they went. "This way please sir. We will have you feeling good as new in no time at all." Sen had gotten over the

mini panic attack and was now ready to prove herself to the witch of the bath house. The twins let Sen take the lead and even though it seemed as though

she had no clue what she was doing to the witch and that the ladies were better employees than her and they were only volunteering, she was about to be

proven wrong…very wrong.


	10. Chapter 10: Yubaba Proven Wrong

Chapter 10

Lin had just gotten back from getting the breakfast she had promised Sen, when a disgusting smell filled her nose even causing their breakfast to be ruined.

She saw Sen with the two ladies that lately seemed to be nearly inseparable from her leading a stink spirit by the hands to the bath. She reluctantly threw

their ruined breakfast and went to get some supplies. She had to help Sen. She was going to make sure this spirit didn't lay a finger on her but if he did before

she got there…Yubaba or no Yubaba she would make that creep pay. Sen tried to open up the little door that operates the water mechanism. She was kind of

glad that the "customer" she had let in from the rain had brought her all the bath tokens since the first one slipped due to the sludge the stink spirit left when

if over filled the tub by literally doing a cannon ball. She nodded to the twins who stood at the ready and the three of them would pull the handle letting the

water flow. They helped each other climb the sludge fill sides of the tub and when they got to the top yanked on the handle but all three slipped into the tub

and found that this stink spirit had something on his side. "Sen, my ladies, stay right where you are. I'm coming to help you. You're gonna be fine. I won't let

him hurt you." "I think he needs help." "We think there is a thorn in his side. It won't come out no matter how hard we pull." Yubaba had had a feeling that this

was no stink spirit and with the conformation about a supposed thorn in his side, she knew she had been right. She jumped from the floor she was standing on

and made a rope. "Listen to me that's no stink spirit we've got on our hands. Grab onto this rope." The three secret sisters grabbed the rope and tied it on

while Lin held it up for them to see clearly in the water making sure it was good ad tight. "Right. We have it tied on. " Yubaba nodded and called for backup

from the other workers and made fans appear. "Everyone Ready on my command. And…Heave…" After several pulls a bicycle and other trash from the human

realm came out until the three sisters pulled out the last thing: a line from a fishing pole. As soon as it was pulled out, the three girls were enveloped in a huge

bubble of water. After a few seconds, what looked like a talking head came out of the water. "Well done" was all it said and in their hand left the girls three

presents. To Sen, the now free of pollution river spirit, left a secret medicine found only by his river. To the twins he left a rare gift: two of his dragon scales

and earrings made of silver gold with a black diamond for Aria and gold and rubies for Lyra. The items presented to the twins were blessed by him and it is an

amazing honor for a dragon to bestow his scales to you. As the mess cleared, gold was scattered in the dirty water. It was the River Spirit's payment for the

bath and damage he caused. The three girls were revealed standing side by side just staring at the water until it started to bubble. "Girls, you're in our guest's

way. Set aside. Open the Main Gates. Make way. " With a bow the three girls stepped down. Just as he was sure they would be hurt by his exit. The River

Spirit made a grand as exit as any. Each of the sisters held there gifts carefully as to not break or ruin them when they were literally attacked. "Sen, you

three did great. We made so much money. That spirit is rich and powerful. Sake is on the house tonight but first hand over all the gold you picked up."

Everyone groaned but complied and went to get their free sake. Yubaba watched the three who had just made her even richer curiously. Sen was an enigma.

After everything she did to discourage her, to harm her, to threaten her, she still pulled through with the biggest determination she had ever seen. And

through this hell she was putting her; she still managed to make friends? She secretly envied that but no one would ever know her secret thoughts and this

new truth: She had been proven wrong by a human.


	11. Chapter 11: New Guest and Haku's Return

Chapter 11

"Here. I swiped a dumpling for ya. What a day." After thanking Lin for the dumpling, Sen looked back out over the balcony to the full moon. "There's so much

water it looks like the sea." "What did you expect after all that rain?" As the two were talking, the train that had caught Sen's attention when first arriving in

the Spirit World rode by. It created a bullet like wave as it went. Lin looked at it sadly as it went down the tracks beyond their sight. "I gotta get out of this

place. Someday, I'm getting on that train." As Lin and Sen were having their little heart to heart moment, the twins were in their room worried beyond belief. It

had been so long since Haku had visited. They were worried that if he didn't return soon, their sister would forget everything and the whole family would be

trapped until their deaths with their parents the first to go as food. They had just had a bath of their own just before everything closed for their hard work

with Sen as well as a marvelous dinner. Once again making sure to generously tip whoever helped them. They were happy that the people and the spirits here

had come to like their sister more now all because she got them free sake. From the look on Yubaba's face, she was happy with the work done by the three

sisters even though the twins had merely volunteered. They had a feeling that there would be a situation like this that would be having them volunteering

again and they couldn't be more right. Just that night after everyone was asleep, the little frog that had caused Sen to blow her cover of the invisibility spell

snuck into the big tub. With a little stick to help look in the cracks of the floor, he searched for gold. He didn't pay attention until a piece of gold fell on the

floor in front of him. He looked up and saw Sen's "customer" in the bath tub. "Hey you. What do you think you're doing? The bath's closed. Get out you. Get

out of there." Enticing him with gold, the "customer" coaxed the little frog until he was at arm's length. As he tried to take as much gold as he could in his

hands, the "customer" struck by snatching him up and swallowing him whole. This gave him the ability to speak now and just his luck, the "boss" showed up.

"What's going on in there. It's way past bed time. Come on." He freaked when gold started falling from above and practically dived to catch it all. "Hey boss up

here. I'm hungry. Starving and I want you to serve me. And I want to take a bath too. Why don't you wake everyone up?" The three sisters were so tired that

they didn't notice any of the noise the rest of the bath house workers were making when they tried their best to get as much gold as possible. With a start,

the three awoke at the same time just having had roughly the same nightmare: That Sen had forgotten what their parents looked like. The twins got ready

and made their way down after hearing the commotion of the boiler of the bath house. Sen had awoken to seeing the boiler lit as well. The twins had just

arrived in front of the girl's dorm, you could say, when Lin arrived. "Sen. I was just coming to wake you up. Hello my ladies. Look its real gold. There's a new

guest here who's loaded. He's giving gold away by the hand full." Though the three sisters were curious who the guest was, their main concern was finding

Haku. Lin went with some of the other girls to get some gold while the three sisters went back upstairs to the girl's dorm. The three leaned against the railing

of the balcony depressed that Haku was nowhere in sight and worried about their parents. "He better get here before we forget what our parents look like."

Aria and Sen couldn't agree more with Lyra's statement. "I sure hope dad hasn't gotten too fat…" Nervous giggling could be heard from Aria at that expressed

worry but it was how she coped with these types of things. They sat there somewhat depressed and deep in thought when a swish of the wind distracted

them and got their attention. There, in the midair before them, was the one person the three sisters had been searching for. The one that had been missing

from their lives for a while now: Haku. And just as they about let out a jump for joy, they noticed something. Haku was being attacked in his dragon form by

something and he was hurt very badly.


	12. Chapter 12: Zeniba Appears

Chapter 12

The three sisters gasped in horror as they saw Haku hurt. All Sen could think of at the moment was getting him out of the air. "Haku, this way." The three

jumped out of the way of the door and tried to close the doors before the attackers came in too. But they failed and Sen freaked when they all landed on her

but was as much surprised as her sisters to find it was just paper. But the paper was actually shikigami but the twins didn't know who would send that sort of

thing after their friend. Aria and Sen tried to calm Haku as Lyra stepped closer to try and take a look at him but before she could even get close, Haku growled

and took off flying into Yubaba's pent house. Not to gracefully either, through the mind link they just opened up they could tell it was taking all his strength to

get through the window and bumping into everything wasn't helping. With their destination and determination set, the three left the dorm and started to make

their way to the pent house but the elevator was blocked by a frog man. Apparently, it was closed due to a parade they were having for the new loaded

guest. The guest turned out to be Sen's "customer" who offered the three sisters who had been kind to him a mountain of gold. The three told him basically

thanks but no thanks and ran off after Haku. That's when it all went bad. In shock and sadness, the customer dropped all the gold on the floor and naturally

all the bath house workers dived in. Just as the boss came and apologized for Sen and even the ladies, insulting all three to him, the "customer" snapped.

"Wipe that smile off your face. You're still smiling." Just then the "customer" got a two for one sale due to one of the girls sneaking up to him and grabbing a

stray piece of gold. He grabbed both of them and swallowed them whole in front of everyone. This was him, the monster. The one everyone called, No-Face.

Needless to say, everyone screamed and ran away not wanting to be eaten. He didn't care though. Everyone could hate him if they wanted. He only cared

about the opinion of three girls, one in particular. The two beautiful ladies and Sen. Especially Sen. Everyone else could go to hell. While everyone ran out of

his way he made his way back to his room demanding food as he went. By now the only way the girls could get upstairs was by the outside. Dangerous as it

was, they managed to make it to the bath room of the pent house when they noticed Yubaba's return. They had to think fast because by now the three were

in the nursery. They could see Yubaba headed their way so they did the only thing they could do: jump in a pile of pillows. As they were about to be

discovered they were pushed and the baby was discovered instead of them. As they waited for Yubaba to leave, the baby put on quite the act. The mother

witch made her way downstairs to the bath house to settle the matter No-Face. Seeing the coast was clear, the three tried to make their way to save Haku

but encountered another problem. The witch's big baby wanted to play with Sen and threatened to break her arm and cry if she didn't. She did the only think

of to scare him. She opened her hand to reveal blood. This caused the baby to freak out and let go long enough for the three to run and keep Haku from

being pushed down a shoot by what looked like three green heads. As the baby came back to deliver on his threat, three pieces of a shikigami that had

attached themselves to the girls' backs started to speak. "What a spoiled brat. Shut your big mouth. You're a bit of a porker, aren't you? Hmm… Still see

through…" The baby didn't know he had an aunt and so he assumed that the person who the shikigami had made was his mother. "Momma?" "You pea brain.

Can't you even tell me from your own mother?" With that she changed the baby into a mouse and Yubaba's bird spy into a fly and made the heads take the

place of the baby. "This is our little secret. You three tell anyone else and I'll rip your mouths out." At the same time the three sisters all asked the question.

"Who are you?" "I'm Zeniba, Yubaba's twin sister. I see you found that greedy little thief. Now hand him over to me. He stole my solid gold seal and I want it

back. " The twins knew through the mind link that Haku hadn't willingly stolen it. He was commanded and once a command was issued he couldn't disobey. But

due to its curse, it was killing him. The girls didn't have much time. Something had to be done.


	13. Chapter 13:The Golden Seal Appears

Chapter 13

Chihiro refused to believe that what Zeniba said was true. Haku was good, he had to be. If he wasn't, then why would he go through all that trouble of helping

her and the twins even at the cost of Yubaba punishing him? Chihiro refused to let anyone think for her anymore and so returned to using her real name in

secret. She wasn't going to let Haku die. Not as long as she lived and breathed. The twins couldn't believe this woman. She was trying to put doubt into their

minds about the first friend they ever had. They knew that only because of that stupid control Yubaba had over Haku that he was he was so close to death

now. And she merely wanted to dispose of him once she thought he was as good as dead. Before any of the sisters could do anything, Haku used the last bits

of his strength to slice the shikigami and get the three sisters to the boiler room. It was instinct. The three girls shrieked as they fell right on top of Kamaji.

They could only watch in horror as Haku bled all over the place. Chihiro was the first on to snap out of it and react. She ran to Haku and using a piece of the

medicine given to her by the river spirit, made Haku spit p a black slug and the golden seal. "" Sen get that black slug. Over there. Get it. Get it." Well, Chihiro

got it alright. She squashed it with her foot. "You killed it. Those things are bad luck. Hurry, before it rubs off on you. Put your thumbs and forefingers

together. Evil be gone." "Kamaji these are my sisters, Aria and Lyra. I know it's not the best time for introduction but I just though you should know." With

that introduction, Aria stepped forward. "Kamaji, I wish we had met under different circumstances but the situation is dire. On orders from Yubaba, Haku stole

the seal in my sister's hand from her own sister, Zeniba. According to Zeniba herself, she placed a curse on the seal." "That's strong magic. It's made him

gravely ill." Before Kamaji had even finished his train of thought, Haku reverted from his dragon form back to his human one. Immediately, the four made him as

comfortable as possible in order to ease his pain. When they finished, the boiler man proceeded to tell the three sisters about Haku's past and how he had

gotten mixed up with Yubaba in the first place. He had also asked a question he had been wanting to the second Sen had introduced the twins as her sisters.

"Why is it that you say you are sisters but only Sen had to risk her life to get a job here? Are you not close?" "We are very close, but it was not our choice.

Haku made this plan due to something we don't know how to explain. He put it simply that if the three of us had gone in search of the job, it would have put

us all in more danger than necessary. And since only three humans had been reported entering this world, we would be giving ourselves away." When Aria had

finished her piece, Lyra stepped forth and continued the explanation. "And due to the fact that me and my sister did not 'smell like a human', we were able to

pass as customers as per Haku's silent suggestion." Just as the twins were about to continue, the little slide door that connected the boiler room to the bath

house opened and Lin stepped inside. Something told the twins that things were about to get real complicated. And they were right.


End file.
